The Government School of Design

  • Christopher Dresser, 'Original drawing for The Grammar of Ornament (Leaves & Flowers No. 8)'

    Christopher Dresser, 'Original drawing for The Grammar of Ornament (Leaves & Flowers No. 8)', published 1856. Museum no. 1671

    Christopher Dresser (1834-1904)
    Original drawing for The Grammar of Ornament (Leaves & Flowers No. 8)
    Published 1856
    Pen and bodycolour
    Museum no. 1671

    Christopher Dresser was Owen Jones's most famous disciple, and the most successful graduate from the School of Design. An expert in botany, he contributed plant studies to Jones's seminal design sourcebook. Hugely influenced by Jones's design theories and his search for new sources, Dresser himself looked to Japanese design principles for guidance.

  • Christopher Dresser, 'Botanical lecture diagram'

    Christopher Dresser, 'Botanical lecture diagram', about 1855. Museum no. 3969

    Christopher Dresser (1834-1904)
    Botanical lecture diagram
    About 1855
    Pen and watercolour
    Museum no. 3969

    Dresser won a scholarship to go to the School of Design and would have attended Owen Jones's ground-breaking lectures on decorative design. Jones firmly believed that the best principles in design were derived from forms found in nature. When Dresser himself became a lecturer at the School of Design he promoted plant structures as rich sources of inspiration.

  • Christopher Dresser, 'Botanical lecture diagram'

    Christopher Dresser, 'Botanical lecture diagram', about 1855. Museum no. 3981

    Christopher Dresser (1834-1904)
    Botanical lecture diagram
    About 1855
    Pen and watercolour
    Museum no. 3981

    This diagram shows how Dresser reduced botanical drawings to their core structural elements. He hunted within these basic arrangements of stems, leaves and flowers to discover new models for design. This scientific deconstruction of form and structure was similar in spirit to Owen Jones's methodical study of Islamic decoration at the Alhambra.

  • William Odell, 'Wallpaper designed for the Festival of Britain Pattern Group'

    William Odell, 'Wallpaper designed for the Festival of Britain Pattern Group' 1951. Museum no. E.886-1978

    William Odell
    Wallpaper designed for the Festival of Britain Pattern Group
    Produced by John Line & Sons Ltd.
    1951
    Screenprint
    Museum no. E.886-1978

    The electron microscope was invented in 1931. It is interesting to wonder how the design theories of Jones and Dresser would have developed if such technology had been available then. This wallpaper design is based on the molecular structure of boric acid. Like the 1851 Great Exhibition, the 1951 Festival of Britain was conceived to rejuvenate the British design industry.